Brad Farbstein and his partner, Gabriel Gregerman, run the Real Ale Brewing Co. in Blanco. He purchased the business in 1998, two years after it was founded.

Photo By JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

A truck parked at the Real Ale Brewing Co. parking lot in Blanco, Texas has a sign that encourages people to drink Texas Beer. JOHN DAVENPORT/jdavenport@express-news.net

DENVER -- Texas breweries earned nine medals, including five gold, on Saturday at the Great American Beer Festival.

The Texas contingent was led by the Spoetzl Brewery, maker of the Shiner line, with three first-place medals.

Real Ale Brewing of Blanco, owned by Houston native Brad Farbstein, won two silver medals. That included a second-place for its best-selling Firemans #4.

No Houston breweries medaled in the crowded field.

The GABF judges received a record 4,338 entries from 666 breweries.

Texas winners were:

Gold - Austin brewpub Uncle Billy's Brew & Que-Lake Travis won first place in the kellerbier or zwickelbier category for Bottle Rocket.

Spoetzl's Shiner Oktoberfest won in the German-style Marzen category and its best-known beer, Shiner Bock, won in the American-style dark lager category. It also earned gold in the German-style schwarzbier category for its Bohemian Black Lager.

Peticolas Brewing of Dallas won gold in the classic English-style pale ale category for Royal Scandal.

Silver - Real Ale took silver for Firemans #4 in the golden or blonde ale category and for Hans' Pils in the German-style Pilsener category.